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Koma Inu's S Class Trials Part Two: Dakota
The day is hot and dry, and the trend continues the closer to the volcano Dakota gets. She's dressed in a close-fitted tank top and a pair of mid-thigh length athletic shorts, and though the clothes do little to protect her from the sun, she doesn't regret picking them over a longer short or pants. She'd much rather have a sunburn later than be more uncomfortable during this trial. Her hair is done in a tight braid, which she wound into a bun to prevent it from catching fire. The flare gun is heavy against her hip where it's attached though she pushes it out of her mind. She will make it passed this trial and any disadvantages she faces will be overcome. This flare will not be shot and she won't allow herself to give up like that. She approaches the volcano faster than she thought she would, but she's still one of the last few to arrive. Once everybody is there, they all get ready to race up the side of the mountain. The signal to begin is given, and Dakota takes no time in running up the volcano side. She keeps her steps as light as she can while running, and watches the area around her. She was not going to get ambushed if she could help it. As you start to climb up the mountain, you notice that the land you're stepping on is rock hard, but as you climb higher, the ground is losing its firmness and is slowly starting to crumble. Thanks to your light steps, you've made it for about 100 feet, but then as you stepped with your right foot, the ground beneath you shattered as it began melting, trapping your feet within. You notice that you're slowly sinking and that the temperature is rising slowly. How do you proceed? Dakota takes a single deep breath in to calm her nerves, then bends slightly over to look at my feet. The ground has crumbled and covered her feet, and she enact Ice-make Gloves to remove the dirt. By this time, she's sunk down into the ground up to her shins, and then heat is beginning to cause her skin to itch, but she is able to carefully step out of the crushed ground without breaking the ground around it. She stands still for another minute of so, thinking out a way of travel. She can't continue walking the way she had without risking falling into another hole. The next time she might be unlucky enough to fall in lava, and that thought alone is enough to keep her still. An idea strikes her quite suddenly, and she wastes no time creating a dozen eagles of ice. She launches them all within a foot of each other, and they crash in a zigzag pattern on the ground, though they freeze upon contact, creating a somewhat jagged path. She follows the path, careful with her steps and continues on her way. With your clever and creative way of thinking, you've made it past the first obstacle! As you slide down the trail of ice you notice that the ice is slowly melting and the water is vaporizing, forming a somewhat fog around you. The heat rises slowly as you notice the fog collecting into a single point in front of you. You can see three shapes: panther, wolf and a lion. The animals start charging at you, the lion being on your right, panther in the middle and wolf on the left. Their eyes seem to be made of lava as they are glowing bright red. How do you proceed? The collection of fog is keeping her attention though she continues on her way until it's gathered in front of her. The glowing eyes within the fog send a shiver down her spine despite the heat. She readies her Ice-Make Gloves, and as the panther charges at her, she waits until it is upon her. She then quickly jumps, rolling slightly forward and springing off its back. The body of the panther nearly melts her gloves completely, though she reinforces them, not allowing the water to dissipate into the air. The creatures are all relatively fast to turn around, and the wolf is the first to reach her. It bears large canines, which appear to be coated in lava. She creates several dozen eagles that are all about the size of her pinkie and launches them towards the creatures. Most of them melt before making contact though she hears the ice shattering against the creatures and their thundering steps slow a bit trying to shake off the tiny, but numerous beaks jabbing the front of their bodies. They still reach her in a matter of seconds despite their slow pace. They surround her from all sides though they only watch her, and Dakota easily shifts from one creature to another to monitor their movements. Battle strategies stream through her mind though they all seem useless against the super-heated volcano beasts. The lion is the first to step towards her, slowly but confidently, and heat rolls off of it in waves, getting more intense as it approaches. She has to think fast if she wants to pass this trial, and with that thought in mind, she quickly dodges around the beast and escapes the circle by going through the spot the lion used to occupy. They all turn on her faster, surrounding her again in the same formation. The heated presence they have prevents Dakota from setting up any spells without the fear of them melting and wasting her magical energy. But the temperature they release gives her an idea, and she takes a deep breath in, before setting up her Ice-Make Dome around them. The closed-off area fogs up almost instantly but after a few seconds, it disappears. The temperature is considerably colder than it was before though it's only slightly below a normal temperature. Her plan rides on the prediction that these creatures survive off of the heat provided by the volcano to continue moving, through right now she's unsure. They are still in the same aggressive stance, staring her down with eyes that shift like flowing lava. She can't lower the temperature any lower right now, for fear that while she's concentrating they'll attack her, but she can't just stand here doing nothing or she will suffer the same fate. She safely lowers her arms from the stance it takes to set up the dome and ponders of her next move. Now that the temperature is cooler, she can safely set up more spells, so she does, creating a long swirling serpent. "Ice-Make: Water Serpent!" She announces, and said creature rears back, and then quickly strikes, landing a direct blow on the lion. The serpent melts at first though the sheer cold of the creation freezes the water. The lion's chest and forelegs are covered in a thick layer of jagged ice, and before it begins to melt, Dakota rushes forward, an ice sword forming between her hands. She makes a swing from her right, and it crashes into the lion. Because of its rock body, the sword is only able to dig in a little bit, but it seems like its enough. Lava drips out of the wound, and she changes the sword in her hand into several knives and lodges them into the split made by the sword. The beast lets out a mighty bellow, and it snaps its head around, latching its large jaws onto Dakota's forearm. She screams from pain, pulling one of the daggers from the creature and using it to coat her knuckles in ice. She punches it in the muzzle, and the pressure around her arm is released a bit. She punches it again in the same spot, and the creature releases her altogether. She jumps back several feet, and cradles her arm, freezing the blood flowing out of the wound. The panther and wolf give her no time after that, and they both leap towards her. Dakota sets up an Ice Shield in front of her, which stops the panther though the wolf crashes through with reckless abandon, and ice shards spew out. Dakota redirects the ice towards the canine, and the ice splits the layer of earth covering its body, and lava oozes out. Despite it, the wolf still tackles her, digging its long nails into her shoulders where its front paws rest. It back legs are on the ground on either side of her legs. Its mouth hangs dangerously close to her head, and the pressure on her shoulders keeps her arms at her side. She kicks her legs out, and the wolf is slightly unbalanced as her legs make contact with its hind legs. The heat moving off its body burns her skin where they touch, but she forces herself to forget about it for now. While it's unbalanced, she quickly bucks up with all her might, throwing the wolf off of her, and its scrambles to get back up. She manipulates the ice from the shield and creates another shield that floats above the wolf. She allows it to crash down upon the canine, and it lets out a yelp, but the weight of the shield keeps its pinned. She lets out a heavy breath, and the dome around her disappears. I have to conserve my magic. She reminds herself, and then the panther surges towards her. She coats her hands thick layer of ice and it leaps towards her. She ducks beneath it, then rockets up, landing both her hands firmly on its underside. Using the momentum from its leap, she leans to the side and crashes it face first into the ground. Then she reinforces her foot in ice and uses all of her might to kick it, and the creature ends up in the air and it lands several feet away from her. It attempts to rise from its spot though its legs give out from beneath it. Her entire body feels as though it's on fire and scorch marks cover her shoulders and thighs. The lion has broken free from its icy shackles completely, but its wound continues to ooze lava. If I can just finish this last one off, I can move on. She thinks, reinforcing the ice on her hands. If I can move on. Another part of her mind says, acknowledging the burn and ache of her muscles. The lion considers her for a few long moments, and Dakota thinks it might just give up. Please just give up. She begs mentally, though the creature does not answer her pleas, and it strides over to her in the same confident way it had when this began. She puts on a similarly brave face though the lion is unfazed. It slightly favors its left side where the wound is, though other than that, it seems perfectly fine. Before the feline can get the first move, Dakota runs forward, slightly to the right, and then curves in, and strikes the palm of her hand of her wound, and then uses her momentum to flip over the beast to prevent it from biting her. It's reflexes are faster than she predicted, though, and its teeth nearly catch her as she backpedals away. It faces her, and Dakota uses this time to create a creature of ice to match the lion's strength. A rhinoceros forms in between the two of them, and Dakota is clenching her jaw to keep this new spell up. Her magic is dangerously close to running out, but she presses onward anyways, telling herself this is all she needs and the fight will be over. The lion stares at the rhino, and they both let out a huff of breath to intimidate the other. The lion is the first to move, running towards the beast head on, which was a huge mistake on its part. The short but strong horn protruding from the rhino's face gleams and it leans its head forward, charging towards the lion to meet it. When they make contact, the lion is stabbed by the horn, and it breaks the rock covering its chest. Lava leaks out of the wound, but the lion attaches its jaw to the rhino's shoulder, its fangs sinking it and melting the ice faster than Dakota can think to fix it. The rhino back up, and the lava flows easily from the wound now, and it lion crashes to the ground and lies still. All of a sudden, all the volcano creatures seem to meld into the ground, and Dakota slumps down, all of her ice creations disappearing from the battlefield. Her eyes are glazed over, and her temperature seems only to be steadily rising. Sweat leaks out of her pores, and she does her best to freeze it in order to cool down a bit, and it works somewhat. After several minutes, she decides to start moving again, her magical and physical energy a little replenished now. Her muscles scream in protest as she moves to stand, but she manages to get up and begins walking towards the top of the volcano again. Even though you feel a bit fatigued, the hardest part is already behind you. Your battle with the beasts has proven that you have some S-Class material, such as cleverness and durability. But beware, your ascendance has just begun. As you slowly progress to the top of the volcano, you can see that you've made a fair progress. Half way up. The road is becoming steeper fire and steam bursting from the volcano's crust with tremendous force. The bursts are becoming more frequent as you climb up to the top. In the distance, you can see the flag you need to bring down. You notice that there are three major 'pillars' of fire around the flag. The rest of the pillars are just minor ones, few inches higher than you. A burst of steam located on your right started sending out boiling water whose only target are you. The pillar of water transforms into two spears and several arrows as steam continues to rise from the pillar. How do you proceed? Dakota manages to keep her steps quite light despite the strain in her legs and prevents any new fissures from forming beneath her feet. But the already burst cracks set her on edge, and she uses her slighter build to slip easily between the bursting flame columns. Her clothing is slightly singed from flickering flames, and her skin crawls and she hopes beyond hope she isn't going to leave this volcano with blisters up and down her arms. The lion bite is already more than she wanted to deal with, along with the burning marks from the wolf's paws on her shoulders and thighs. The top is quickly approaching, which puts a quick pep in her step, and she's at a light jog when she sees the flag waving at the top. Finally! she cheers mentally, though slows down a bit. The air is much denser up here, and when the large burst of steam explodes from the earth, she no longer has to guess why. Her surprise is enough to still her, but she hops back into action after a few long heartbeats, quickly running onward. The burst of boiling water pursues her, forming into large spears and several arrows and she knows the water will reach her before she can grab the flag or put up some great defense against it. She turns around and faces the water head on, and she feels the flare gun on her hip again. No. If I hope to become S-Class, then I must prove that I won't be overcome by disadvantages. She strengthens her resolve, then gets into a wide stance, placing her fist into her open palm. "Ice-Make: Water Serpent!" She chants and the spiraling snake launches from in front of her hands, meeting the two spears. When they come in contact, steam explodes into the air, and Dakota can't see even one foot in front of her. As the steam clears, the water has disappeared along with the serpent Dakota summoned without a trace. Most of the arrows are still coming towards her, and she raises an Ice Shield in front of her with her magical energy. When the reach the defense, they melt holes into the ice, though nothing comes through the wall. The ice disappears after the arrows are gone, and she shuts her eyes against a headache forming from overexertion in such high temperatures. She feels a bit woozy when she opens her eyes again, though turns back to the flag, and carefully walks up to the top of the volcano to avoid any wild flames, tripping up over her own feet a few times on the way. The columns surrounding the flag are an entirely different problem altogether. She can't freeze a flame, or even faze them out like she did with the boiling water, and there isn't enough room between the fire pillars to slip between them. She walks around the entire perimeter and finds no holes in the defense, and lets out an exasperated sigh. "Of course, after all that, I can't even get to the flag without suffering some sort of burn," She says aloud, shaking her head. She backs up and runs forward, looking ready to jump through the flames when she suddenly stops a mere few inches from the fire. "Well, there isn't a ceiling," She thinks aloud and gets into the same stance she used to create the water serpent though this time she says, "Ice-Make: Wings!" and a pair of large wings sprout from behind her. They flutter a few times experimentally, and then with a strong whoosh, she's lifted into the air and is above the pillars in three beats of her artificial wings. The exposure to the heat causes the wings to melt though Dakota is able to keep them up until she is on the ground inside the pillars of fire, and she is able to grab a flag. Once the flag is removed from the ground, the fire grows at least as twice as large as it had been, and Dakota's eyes grow wide as the flames quickly approach her. Backing up will just bring the flames behind her closer, and she won't have enough time to set up another wing spell, and even if she did, the flames have grown upwards as well. She feels tears pricking her eyes at the thought of having lost at the very end of the trial, but the flames collapse and Dakota stares blankly around her. She doesn't stay there for too long in fear the flames will kick back up again, and she makes her way back down the volcano. As you start going downhil, you notice that the way down is long. You notice a what appears to be a red river flowing from the crater to the base of the volcano. As you aproach it, you can see that the river is now blue and gives off an icy feeling. Within seconds it became purple and then the colour intensified to red. As the red slowly faded to purple and blue, you notice that the temperature rises and falls when the river changes colour. You can see a pair of eels swiming in circle in front of you as they attempt to be noticed by you. How do you proceed? The bright red river crosses Dakota's path, and it spreads to the left and right quite far. Walking around it will take way too much time, time she doesn't have, since this is a race. She steps cautiously over to the river's edge and as she approaches it, the red changes to a purple, then blue and the air feels much cooler. The reprieve from the heat is welcome, but it disappears as the color shifts again. The notices the eels in the water, and while they appear to be harmless, she doesn't think they'd put harmless creatures up against potential S-Class wizards. They spin in a tight circle, and it's hard to tell where one begins and one ends. The color changes to blue again, and Dakota reaches her hand into the water in the same instant. The frigid cool of the river is bliss in this fiery wasteland, but she doesn't have time to be relaxing. The eels swim at a rapid pace over to her arm, and surround it. They tighten slowly around, her skin twisting as they continue to move in a circle. She clenches her jaw against the pain, and uses her Ice-make abilities to freeze the length of her arm. The eels slide against it with less friction due to the ice, but they slide up her arm now, looking for a different vantage point. The color shifts in the river again, purple and she yanks her hand from the water in a haste, and just in time to watch it change to red. The eels don't appear fazed to be taken from the water, just continue spinning and twisting on her ice covered arm, quickly approaching her shoulder. She reaches her other arm over, and attempts to grip the eel, but it's slick and slimy body slips right between her fingertips. She lets out a frustrated groan, then creates a knife of ice, no longer than her pointer finger. She jabs the point directly into one of the eels body, and it lets out a hiss, abandoning its partner in favor of slithering into the river again. The other one follows shortly after, and she follows after them, several knives similar to the one she created before forming between each of her fingers. She lets one fly, and it sinks into the first eel's body, going straight through to stick into the hard earth below. She lets two more fly in quick succession to keep the eel trapped to the ground. She does the same thing to the other eel, and they squirm for a few moments before they resign to their fate. She slinks over to their side and bends down next to them. "Can either of you talk?" she asks, curiosity filling her voice. They didn't seem all that strong, so they had to have another purpose right? "From ashes I was made, to ashes I shall fade.A being of destruction and the deity of construction. Black in the white, a light in the dark." spoke the eels, each saying one thought as they transformed into a young pair of lovers standing above you. The male had red eyes and dark hair while the girl had blue eyes and blond hair. They were dressed similarly, each one in tones of their eyes. "We are the guardians of the holy river that flows ahead of you. Answer our question and you shall step in the burning ice," they continued as they embraced each other while the river kept changing colour every time they touched. Dakota hums in delight at guessing correctly though intently listen to their words. While the eels transform, she ponders over the statements, her eyes on them but not really seeing them. Her eyebrows knit together in thought, ideas for potential answers streaming in and out of her mind. Her facial features relax after a few moments, and she regains her focus on what's in front of her. When she sees it is no longer eels but people, she startles back a step, though straightens up quickly in favor of answering the riddle. "You two are Yin and Yang," she says, looking to each of them respectively. The two lovers nod at her, a warm smile enveloping both of their faces. "Correct. You may proceed into the river." Dakota lets out a shout of glee, already making her way over to the river. "Any magic can be used within it, and no pain shall come to you on your way down." Dakota nods her head and creates a raft of ice on top of the water. She steps into the river and then onto the raft, and she begins to float away. While on her raft, Dakota gets rid of the ice coating the bite she received from the lion. It isn't bleeding anymore, and the ice prevented anything from getting into the wound, so other than the four huge incisions and the scorch marks haven't gotten any worse. Not to say they got better, but the ice prevented any swelling as well, and Dakota smiled proudly at herself. She recovers her arm in ice and relaxes as she drifts down the river. Dakota has nearly been lulled to sleep as she reaches the bottom of the volcano, and she steps off of her raft and onto the ground. She leisurely stretches her muscles, the ice raft disappearing from the river. She walks over to Arthur. "Congratulations on making it past this trial. Go ahead and return to the guild hall and wait for the results to be announced." Arthur says and Dakota nods her head and begins walking towards Koma Inu's guild.